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By Tuesday, the first concrete material of converting Portmore into Jamaica's 15th parish could be laid.That is when the House of Representatives, after some deliberations, is expected to vote on the matter, before passing it on to the Senate for its own approval, perhaps mere days later.Chairman of the Joint Select Committee to consider the proposal to establish Portmore as Jamaica's 15th parish, Dr Andrew Wheatley, told the Jamaica Observer in an interview last week, that he expects a smooth flow of the process, in the matter that which was first mooted in 2003 when there was a People's National Party Administration in Government."We intend to close the debate on the report this Tuesday. I opened the debate last Tuesday after which MP Fitz Jackson spoke, and we hope to complete the debate this coming Tuesday when it is expected that the prime minister and at least two members of Parliament who represent sections of Portmore, (Alando) Terrelonge and Robert Miller, will also be making their contributions," Dr Wheatley remarked."I will close the debate, hopefully Tuesday night, and ask the Parliament to vote, and that vote will give the go-ahead by the House for the establishment of Portmore as the 15th parish of Jamaica," Dr Wheatley went on.A simple majority in each House would make the move legal. It would then be sent to the Cabinet which will prepare instructions for the creation of a Bill, and send it back to Parliament for final approval.Dr Wheatley said he expects the matter of Portmore becoming Jamaica's 15th parish before the life of the extension to hold municipal elections expire, and that's by February of 2023."I anticipate that it will be done before the next local government election, which can be held anytime within the next 12 months, based on the Bill that was passed recently to suspend the holding of local elections. It would be best to tidy up this, in my opinion, and give the people a fresh start at the next polls."After almost 20 years we are at a point to complete the process - to give the people of Portmore full autonomy. The process was started by the PNP Administration, and will be completed by the JLP Administration. It was a commitment given by former prime Minister Bruce Golding leading up to the 2007 general election, but it was not done. The current prime minister made that commitment in 2020 leading up to the general election that year and it is only fitting that this year, when we are marking our 60th anniversary of Independence that Portmore should get full independence as well," Dr Wheatley argued.Should, as Dr Wheatley expects, the matter gets passed in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, the life of the committee, comprised of members from both houses of Parliament and both sides of the political divide, would end.The other members of the committee, established on November 3, 2020, are Fitz Jackson, Damion Crawford, Robert Miller, Leslie Campbell, Clifford Everald Warmington, Natalie Campbell Rodriques, Sherine Golding Campbell, Homer Davis, J Denise Daley, Delroy Williams, Dr Floyd Morris, Delroy Chuck, and Alando Terrelonge, who replaced Marlene Malahoo Forte.For his part, Dr Wheatley has always felt that it was natural for Portmore to become a parish, based on personal and political reasons.He was first elected councillor for the Naggo Head division of the then St Catherine Parish Council in 2003, became deputy mayor straightaway to Dr Raymoth Notice, and upon the resignation of Dr Notice two years later, he was thrown into the mayor's chair."While sitting as a councillor in the St Catherine Parish Council, I had to be attending meetings of the Portmore City Municipality at the same time. So we had to go to two sets of meetings - general council meetings every second Wednesday night in Portmore, and Thursday morning we had to attend the St Catherine Parish Council meeting in Spanish Town."If you did not attend the meeting in Spanish Town you could not be paid, because you serve first as councillor of the St Catherine Parish Council, while in Portmore you are part of a city council. Quite a lot of councillors now in Portmore chair meetings in the St Catherine Municipal Corporation," Dr Wheatley stated.There are 12 councillors in the Portmore City Council, made of up 10 who won under the banner of the PNP in the last local government election, and two by the JLP. In the larger St Catherine Municipal Corporation, there exists 21 PNP councillors, and 20 talking up for the JLP, counting those in Portmore as well.The last census over a decade ago put the population of Portmore at just over 182,000, but officials believe that the number has gone past 200,000, even nearer to 250,000 now, some have suggested."I recognised long ago that Portmore needs to be fully autonomous to separate itself from the rest of St Catherine. The high level of professionalism and the educated persons living in Portmore give it a particular culture. Most of the people who work in Jamaica's public sector reside in Portmore. It has its own identity, and with the plan to build out sections like Bernard Lodge, with some 20,000 houses, you want to have an area that is contiguous not only in culture, but other features, and I believe that Portmore being a parish would have completed that," the Member of Parliament for St Catherine South Central said.And talk of Portmore missing amenities that the two other cities in Jamaica have, like a hospital, is not a turnoff for the committee's chairman."Legislatively there is no perquisite for a hospital or a market, and if you go back to the Act of 1967 that established the current 14 parishes, all that it entails was establishing boundaries for a parish, and identifying an area and calling that a capital city."The capital of Kingston is Kingston. Notwithstanding that, we recognise that whether it's a parish or a town, there are certain basic amenities that must be in place to ease the burden of the people, to improve the quality of life, and so the matter of a hospital was brought up, and the prime minister last year gave the commitment for the building out of a hospital in Portmore," Dr Wheatley continued, suggesting too, that like Kingston, the capital of Portmore ought to be Portmore."Prior to that we were told by the Ministry of Health and Wellness that plans were in train to build a hospital in St Catherine, but they did not settle on the location, although there was talk of somewhere like in Old Harbour side, but the prime minister has now given the commitment that that hospital will be built in Portmore," said Dr Wheatley, a biochemist by training.No site has been fingered yet, the former Cabinet minister said, adding that identifying land should not be a problem, as State agencies the Urban Development Corporation, and the National Land Agency owns over 70 per cent of land in Portmore."A lot of improvement is expected to come to Portmore, such as road infrastructure. Roads are slated to be built and some have started in terms of the dualisation. You are looking at Hellshire Road being dualised, George Lee Boulevard will be dualised. The process started along Port Henderson Road in the vicinity of Bridgeport leading up to Naggo Head. So dualisation of these roads will ease the traffic flow within Portmore, but more importantly, the plan is to address the problem of congestion at the Caymanas intersection. Visualise a flyover at the river just before you enter the East West Toll Road... you have something else that flies you over and lands you into Portmore. That has already been decided upon and was revealed to the committee that one will be built. A budget is being put in place to do that. You would have reduced that congestion in and out of Portmore and people would not be forced to take the toll road. It would also support the Bernard Lodge development as well."We want to create economic activities, employment opportunities within Portmore - to build out Portmore as the first smart parish on this island, Caribbean or Latin American region. Smart parish means technology becomes a critical component of the everyday lives of the people of Portmore."We need to implement E-Homes, which is geared towards reducing the burden on persons having to travel from Portmore, being able to work from home, say two days per week, thereby reducing travel expenses. Once you have KPIs (key performance indicators), these persons can work effectively. Once there is connectivity and infrastructure, they can stay from home and do their work," he said.